I just had a guy tell me Ardex denied his claim because he used the wrong RPM drill.

On the one hand I can see if the product was lumpy and unmixed, or perhaps bubbly and frothy, it could cause problems. And I also wonder why an installer would use a drill with the wrong RPM.

Our drill is the perfect RPM for mixing. We also mix exactly for the recommended time. Why not? It sure isn't hard to do! And I can tell you that when we got a couple semi-loads of recalled product from a certain manufacturer (NOT Ardex btw) and they sent a couple big-shots out to find a flaw in my methods, they could get nothing on my guys. We had digital timers to time our mixing. We had the right barrels, the right mixing paddles, the right drill speed. Our water was metered exactly.

We can make the choice to follow the manufacturer's recommendations or we can decide to do something else. I find it easier to follow the book.

Hmmmmm. Denied a claim for low RPM drill? Then why does Ardex recommend mixing "less that a full bag" with a margin trowel for 2-3 min. in their instruction sheet? I suspect the guy mixed it on the floorl like has seen ever other installer do for the last 20 years, never measured the water, and off he went...

Geez, if you're baking a cake, don't you follow the recipe?

What kills me is anyone, in any trade, that rushes a job or takes shorcuts. Installations can throw you enough curves, so who needs call backs and unhappy customers from failures due to poor installation practices. OK. I'm done ranting

(03-27-2012, 06:01 PM)CCR Wrote: Hmmmmm. Denied a claim for low RPM drill? Then why does Ardex recommend mixing "less that a full bag" with a margin trowel for 2-3 min. in their instruction sheet? I suspect the guy mixed it on the floorl like has seen ever other installer do for the last 20 years, never measured the water, and off he went...

Geez, if you're baking a cake, don't you follow the recipe?

What kills me is anyone, in any trade, that rushes a job or takes shorcuts. Installations can throw you enough curves, so who needs call backs and unhappy customers from failures due to poor installation practices. OK. I'm done ranting

I suspect the claim was for a self-leveling, but to be completely honest I can't even remember which flooring guy was the one telling me.... I've been in three different states in the last two weeks, and I have learned to disregard most claims that these guys have followed the book and the mix was bad.... I've watched too many underlayment cowboys throwing down product and it makes me marvel that their stuff works at all.

I know that everyone tells me they can look at the mix and 'know' when it's right, and when you run a pump that's all you have to go by because they don't give you a viscosity reading to follow.... With Ardex self-levelers I have been very happy. I have mixed them with an extra cup of water to see what the product looks like and it really is a marked difference. An extra two cups per batch and a blind man can see the yellow cream that forms and notice the soupiness. Yet the leveler hardens like a rock anyway. So I can tell if some of the powder was left in the bag or if a measuring bucket wasn't level when it was filled. A little bit less water stiffens the mix and a tad extra thins it. I think it would be difficult to screw up an Ardex mix unless you try to.

I've seen EVERYTHING you mentioned, and seen the results in failed jobs... and it's NEVER their fault. Same rodeo-different cowboys. Better still...same circus - different clowns! What is most unbelievable is the lack of proper subsrate prep... "gee, I don't know why it didn't stick"